Dallas Police Chief David Brown said Sunday that he misspoke a day earlier when he said that a 911 operator’s mishandling of a call was responsible for a woman’s death.

After a community meeting in South Dallas on Saturday, Brown said that the operator, who wrote “urgent!” in a note to a dispatcher, didn’t transmit critical information that Deanna Cook’s life was in danger. Cook could be heard on the call choking and pleading for her life.

“She obviously failed at that, and it cost the life of Ms. Cook,” Brown said of the 911 operator Saturday in an interview with reporters.

On Sunday, Brown maintained that Cook’s call was mishandled but said he never meant to blame the operator for Cook’s death. Cook’s family found her dead in her southeast Dallas home two days after she called to report she was being attacked Aug. 17.

Two Dallas police officers responded 50 minutes after Cook’s call, but left when no one answered the door.

Brown said Sunday that the 911 operator tried to escalate the call from a Priority 2 call to Priority 1, the highest priority. Although she made Cook’s call the most urgent Priority 2 call at the time, that did not trigger a “Code 3” response — one that requires police to respond with lights and sirens on.

Cook’s ex-husband, Delvecchio Patrick, has been arrested on a murder charge.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever know if we got there in time if we could do medical treatment,” Brown said Sunday. “Mr. Patrick caused her death by choking her — not the 911 clerk.”

Also Sunday, the Police Department said it had made an arrest using procedures put in place in response to Cook’s death.

The new 911 procedures dictate that officers respond with lights flashing and sirens on in calls classified as major disturbances in which a victim may be suffering or about to suffer serious injury or death.

Dallas’ 911 center used that classification Sunday after receiving a call at 6:16 a.m. from a woman in west Oak Cliff who whispered that a man was threatening to kill her.

Police responded to the call at the Wood Hollow apartments in the 4300 block of Wood Hollow Drive. When officers knocked on the front door and there was no answer, they kicked it in and arrested Carl Oneal, 27.

The victim told police that Oneal arrived at the apartment at 2 a.m. Sunday and became upset when she refused to hand over car keys. She said Oneal began to strike her face and body with his fist. Later, when she was able, she called 911.

The victim was treated at the scene, and Oneal was taken to Dallas County Jail. He faces a family violence assault charge.